2008-07-16 A well written introduction to, well, nothing.

The DMG consists of 11 chapters, 2 an introduction to the game, DMing and running a session. 8 on the rules proper, and 1 on an adventure setting.

The highlight of the book is Fallcrest. It`s actually a good setting. The litmus test, that of inspiring ideas, was passed easily. A dozen or more ideas came to mind just skimming that chapter.

Now for the rest.

Every chapter is a well written, clear, introduction to the subject covered and provides a fair number of samples to illustrate the rules, such as they are. I'll even go as far as to call these a pleasure to read. I certainly enjoyed the precision writing. Each chapter served as a very good introduction to the rules.

And that's because each chapter is exactly that, just an introduction. The book is (again) content light and targeted at the novice DM. It's missing rules; just like the players handbook it's got enough to get you started but not enough to keep you going. The truth is that each chapter feels like part I of a three part series.

Any experienced DM who has faced tough rule calls, or written more than a standard dungeon crawl will notice immediately that this book is not fit for purpose. It, with the Players handbook and the Monster Manual do not provide the rich ecosystem of rules and inspiring material, that gives role playing games their bite.

As with the Players handbook this deeply underdeveloped system screams "arbitrary rule calls" and "trouble" (and please read my review of the Monster Manual for an extended view of this).

This book is, again, good enough for beginners. But the experienced role player will not find much worth having.

The writing quality is excellent, earning a star. Fallcrest is excellent earning a star. The rest of the content is too limited to earn stars.